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ACTION DETROIT |
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Detroit Metropolitan Airport News ***Page 2 = JANUARY 2003============================================
The Detroit Metropolitan Airport News Inc.
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Wayne and Marilyn Schriber
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In Your Face
with Doug Merriman
Farewell To A Real Cop
Tribute is something that I never pay to any person unless they have truly earned it. That is not often an easy thing to do with me, earn respect, unless you have been in the trenches when your moment arrives and no one has to nudge you to do what you have to do. I have been there. My moment arrived on several occasions. And no one had to nudge me. I did what any principled person would do. Respect then arrives without invitation. When it does, it provides you insight into things that are both abstract and dimensional. You know who deserves it. You know who does not. No one has to tell you; you just know from the first moment.
One man who deserves all the respect in the world, but will never ask for it—because that is the kind of person he is—is Al James, the now retired Director of Training for the Airport Police. Al’s last official day on duty was December 31, 2002. At the end of that day, not only did the year end, but so did a storied career in Wayne County Law Enforcement. After 37 years, Al finally decided that it was time…
See, Al came along at a time
when America truly was a place that believed in a “color-blind” society: African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics and Asians were “invisible” But Al was
a trailblazer who never shied away from kicking in the doors of racial and ethnic discrimination no matter where it existed. And he showed up at the Wayne County Sheriff Academy 37 years ago, well, as they say: “It was on.”
They tried. Oh, how they tried. Nevertheless, Al was up for it. Every time a door was slammed in his face, Al kicked it open. Every time the guardians of the system tried some three-card Monte, they would up get
ting their hands slapped, and the pea shoved up their nose. All the while, Al continually earned respect from everyone he encountered because it was clear what he stood for: Respect. And dignity. Not just for himself, but for everyone. The Guardians at the gate became sick of Al. They did not wish him well.
Neither did the crooks. Along the way, Al racked up a career worthy of note. He had more significant, high profile arrest in his file then a lot of other cops have driven past telephone poles. He was fearless, and often was the “first one through the door.” As a cop, he never ducked what ever it was that needed to be done; this included all of those other little talked about things that most cops like to talk about but never do.
Where he saw the mission, he
affected the mission. He forever changed the nature of sensitive police work wherever he trod: Sergeant in Organized Crime; prime investigator for the Attorney General’s Organized crime Task Force, Lieutenant in Internal Affairs; first Executive Commander of the Airport Police, first Director of Public Safety, first Director of Training for the Airport Police.
All of these were first, where Al left giant footprints for all others to follow. He contributed mightily to shaping the mission, and molding the Airport Police into the highly thought of organization that exist today. Al did this—Al James. And not some of the others who may lay claim to the credit. This is a hellava
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